rowan2•11d ago

Stopped by a local bindery in Portland last month and it flipped my opinion on glue types

Honestly, I've been using PVA glue for all my bookbinding projects for like three years now. Thought it was the only way to go, you know? But I visited this small shop called Rose City Bindery down in the Pearl District and the owner showed me how they use a gelatin-based adhesive for their spine linings on certain leather bindings. At first I was skeptical, but she let me feel the difference after it dried. The flexibility was way better than what I get with my PVA on rounded spines. She said it's been around forever but got pushed out by cheaper options. Now I'm thinking about grabbing a small batch to test on my next project. Has anyone here switched from PVA to something else and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_davis9011d ago

Swapped to a gelatin mix last year for my rebinds and honestly it took some getting used to. The open time is way shorter so you gotta work faster, but the finished spine movement is night and day better. Never looked back after my first successful round back.

cameron53811d ago

Yeah that shorter open time is no joke. A buddy of mine tried switching to a gelatin mix for his rebinds and the first time he used it he had a total disaster. He was so used to his old PVA mix that he took his sweet time laying everything out and by the time he went to close the book the glue was already skinned over. Ended up with a spine that cracked the first time he opened it. He learned his lesson though. Now he pre-wets his cloth and has everything staged before he even opens the gelatin. @iris_davis90 that bit about "spine movement" is exactly what he said changed for him once he got the speed down.